Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator, more particularly a refrigerator having an auxiliary door is disclosed. The refrigerator according to the present invention includes a main door with an opening for opening/closing a storage chamber of a refrigerator body; an auxiliary door rotatably coupled to the main door for opening/closing the opening, the auxiliary door opened/closed by pushing an outer surface thereof; and a locking unit for selectively locking the auxiliary door to open/close the auxiliary door by pushing, and for applying rotation force to the auxiliary door to open the auxiliary door. With the above configuration, convenience for usage may be improved, because the auxiliary door is opened/closed more conveniently.

This application claims the benefit of the Patent Korean Application No.P2005-0029417, filed on Apr. 8, 2005, which is hereby incorporated byreference as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly,to a refrigerator having an auxiliary door for opening/closing a part ofa main door.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

In general, a refrigerator is an appliance which can preserve food freshat a low temperature, and includes chambers for preserving food thereinby freezing and/or refrigerating.

The chamber is opened/closed by a main door rotatably provided in arefrigerator body for allowing the food taken out from or put in thechamber.

Recently, a refrigerator has been under development, in which not onlyleakage of cold air caused by opening a main door quite often is reducedbut also the food used frequently is taken out and/or put moreconveniently, such as beverage, e.g., wine and/or beer.

More specifically, an opening in communication with the inside ofchamber is formed in the main door for allowing a user the access to thefood, and the opening is opened/closed by an auxiliary door.

Here, the auxiliary door is rotatably coupled to the main door to beopened/closed rotatably.

Also, an auxiliary food storage part is provided in the inner portion ofthe auxiliary door for storing the food which may be stored and takenout through the opening.

Thus, since the auxiliary door is opened/closed in a state where therefrigerator is closed, the food stored in the auxiliary food storagepart is taken out by a user more conveniently.

Meanwhile, the auxiliary door is locked by an additional locking device.To open the auxiliary door locked by the additional locking device, auser should push a button for operating the locking device and shouldpull a handle of the auxiliary door.

Thus, the conventional refrigerator has a problem of inconvenience thata user should operate the button unlocking the auxiliary door as well asthe handle to open the auxiliary door.

Furthermore, in case that a user using both hands at the same time triesto open and store the food or beverage, it is more inconvenient thathe/she should put down the food and/or the beverage on the floor andopen the auxiliary door and then lift the food and/or the beverage againto store in the auxiliary storage part.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a refrigerator thatsubstantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations anddisadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator in whichconvenience is improved on a user's sake.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may berealized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in thewritten description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, arefrigerator comprising: a main door with an opening for opening/closinga storage chamber of a refrigerator body; an auxiliary door rotatablycoupled to the main door for opening/closing the opening, the auxiliarydoor opened/closed by pushing an outer surface thereof; and a lockingunit for selectively locking the auxiliary door to open/close theauxiliary door by pushing, and for applying rotation force to theauxiliary door to open the auxiliary door.

The locking unit comprises an engaging member provided in either of theauxiliary door and the main door; and a locker provided in the other ofthe auxiliary door and the main door for being selectively engaged tothe engaging member, the locker for applying elasticity to the auxiliarydoor to open the auxiliary door when external force is applied to theauxiliary door.

The engaging member is provided in the auxiliary door and the lockercomprising a latch assembly selectively engaged to the engaging memberis provided in the main door.

The engaging member comprises: an engaging recess or an engaging holeselectively engaged to the latch assembly.

The latch assembly comprises: a rotatable coupling body coupled to theengaging member for locking the auxiliary door, the rotatable couplingbody restituted to an original position and elastically pushing theengaging member.

The engaging member is provided in an upper portion of an inner wall ofthe auxiliary door and the locker is provided in an upper edge portionof the opening and a rotation shaft is provided in a lower portion ofthe auxiliary door, such that the auxiliary door is rotated with respectto the rotation shaft.

According to the refrigerator of present invention, a damping unit maybe further included for dampening the rotation speed of the auxiliarydoor when the auxiliary door is opened.

The damping unit is provided in the rotation shaft of the auxiliarydoor.

The auxiliary door is opened through a first opening section in whichthe auxiliary door is rotated by the pushing force of the locking unit,a second opening section in which the auxiliary door is rotated by selfweight, and a third opening section in which the damping unit dampensthe rotation speed of the auxiliary door.

The main door comprises an auxiliary frame for defining a rim of theopening and for allowing the auxiliary door coupled thereto.

The opening of the main door communicates an inside of the storagechamber with an outside.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partially perspective view illustrating a refrigeratoraccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an auxiliary door of therefrigerator in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an auxiliary frame having theauxiliary door coupled thereto;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the auxiliary door,an engaging member and a damper unit provided in the auxiliary door;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating an opened portion of theauxiliary door in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are front and rear sectional views illustrating anembodiment of a locking unit just before the auxiliary door of FIG. 2 isabout to be locked;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are front and rear sectional views illustrating thelocking unit in a state where the auxiliary door of FIG. 2 is locked;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are front and rear sectional views illustrating thelocking unit just before the auxiliary door is about to be opened; and

FIG. 9 is diagram illustrating a relative movement passage of a stopmember for a rotatable coupling body applied to the locking unit ofFIGS. 6A and 6B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator according to the presentinvention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator according to the present inventionincludes a refrigerator body 10 having a food storage chamber (notshown) therein, a main door 20 for opening/closing the storage chamberof the refrigerator body 10, and an auxiliary door 50 provided in themain door 20.

The main door 20 has an opening 30, and the auxiliary door 50 isrotatably coupled to the main door 20 for opening/closing the opening30.

The main door 20 is rotatably coupled to the refrigerator body 10.

An embodiment of the refrigerator according to the present inventionpresents that a pair of main doors 20 is coupled to the refrigeratorbody 10, but the present invention is not limited to that.

The opening 30 is large enough for the middle portion of main door 20,and the position, the appearance and the size thereof may be variouslychanged.

Since the food and/or the beverage used quite often is stored and takenout through the opening 30, leakage of cold air caused byopening/closing the main door may be reduced.

In other words, the food and/or the beverage used quite often is storedand taken out and the leakage of cold air is minimized, because theopening 30 of the main door is opened/closed by the auxiliary door 50 ina state where the main door 20 is closed.

Also, an auxiliary storage part (not shown) is provided in the innerportion of auxiliary door 50 for storing the food used quite often.

The auxiliary storage part may include a basket provided within theopening.

The auxiliary door 50 may be called as home bar door, and the auxiliarydoor 50 according to the present invention is opened/closed by pushing afront thereof.

That is, once a user pushes the front surface of auxiliary door 50 in astate of the auxiliary door being closed, the auxiliary door 50 isopened.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, an embodiment according to the refrigeratorof the present invention further includes a locking unit 100 forselectively locking the auxiliary door 50, such that the auxiliary door50 may be opened/closed by pushing.

The locking unit 100 applies rotation force to the auxiliary door 50 toopen the auxiliary door 50.

That is, when the front surface of auxiliary door 50 is pressed, theauxiliary door 50 is unlocked by the locking unit 100. Hence, thelocking unit 100 pushes the auxiliary door 50 so as to automaticallyrotate and open the auxiliary door 50.

For the installment of auxiliary door 50, the main door 20 may includean auxiliary frame 40 defining a rim of the opening 30. Preferably, theauxiliary frame 40 has an appearance corresponding with the auxiliarydoor 50.

Moreover, the auxiliary door 50 is rotatably connected with theauxiliary frame 40, such that the auxiliary frame 40 supports theauxiliary door 50 rotatably.

More specifically, opposite lower portions of the auxiliary door 50 arerotatably coupled to opposite inner walls of the auxiliary frame 40.

For that, a rotation shaft 51 defining the center of auxiliary doorrotation is provided in the opposite lower portion of the auxiliary door50, and the rotation shaft 51 is connected with the both inner walls ofauxiliary frame 40.

Thus, the auxiliary door 50 is rotatably coupled to the main door 20,more specifically, to the auxiliary frame 40 to open/close the opening30.

Still further, the refrigerator according to the present inventionincludes a damping unit 80 for dampening rotation speed of the auxiliarydoor 50 when the auxiliary door 50 is opened.

The damping unit 80 of the embodiment is provided in the auxiliary door50, more specifically, in the rotation shaft 51 of the auxiliary door50.

Also, a shaft fastening part 82 is formed on each opposite inner wall ofthe auxiliary frame 40 for allowing the rotation shaft 51 fastenedthereto. The damping unit 80 may include an oil damper.

According to this embodiment, the rotation shaft of the damping unit 90defines the rotation shaft 51 of the auxiliary door 50. The damping unit80 is insertedly fastened to damping fastening recess 81 on the oppositelower portions of the auxiliary door 50, but it is not limited thereto.

The locking unit 100 selectively locks the auxiliary door 50 for makingthe opening 30 airtight.

The locking unit 100 includes an engaging member 110 and a locker 120selectively engaged to the engaging member 110.

The engaging member 110 is provided in either of the main door 20 andthe auxiliary door 50, and the locker 120 is provided in the other ofthe main door 20 and the auxiliary door 50.

The locker 120 applies elasticity to the auxiliary door 50 enough toopen the auxiliary door 50 once the outer surface of auxiliary door 50is pressed.

In other words, a user presses the front surface of auxiliary door 50 toopen the auxiliary door 50. Hence, the locker 120 and the engagingmember 110 are disengaged, and the locker 120 applies elasticity to theauxiliary door 50 to open the auxiliary door 50.

According to the embodiment, the engaging member 110 is provided in theauxiliary door 50, and the locker 120 is provided in the main door 20.

Here, the engaging member 110 is projected backwardly from the auxiliarydoor 50, and the locker 120 is provided in the auxiliary frame 40.

The engaging member 110 is provided in an upper center of the auxiliarydoor inner wall, and the locker 120 is provided in a center of an upperedge portion of the auxiliary frame 40, corresponding with the engagingmember.

The engaging member 110 may include an engaging hole 111 or an engagingrecess for allowing the locker 120 selectively engaged thereto.

According to this embodiment, the engaging member 110 includes anengaging hole 111 of a slot shape in a center thereof, but it is notlimited thereto.

Meanwhile, the locker 120 includes a latch assembly 120 a provided inthe main door 20 and the latch assembly 120 a is selectively engaged tothe engaging member 110.

An insert recess 121 is formed in the locker 120 for allowing theengaging member 110 inserted thereto.

Also the latch assembly 120 a is provided in the upper portion ofauxiliary frame 40 for maintaining the state of the auxiliary door 50being closed together with the engaging member 110.

The latch assembly 120 a is inserted into a securing recess 41 formed ona front surface upper end of the auxiliary frame 40, and the securingrecess 41 of a box shape is recessed inwardly from the front surfaceupper end of auxiliary frame 40.

The latch assembly 120 a may be provided in various ways, for example,with an engaging hook for allowing the engaging member 110 engagedthereto.

That is, once the front surface of auxiliary door 50 is pressed to closethe auxiliary door 50, an engaging hook is rotated in a direction andfixedly hooks the engaging member 110 inserted into the insert recess121. Thereby, the auxiliary door 50 is locked.

Whereas, once the front surface of auxiliary door 50 is pressed in astate of the auxiliary door being closed, the engaging hook is rotatedin another direction and is detached from the engaging member 110.

Also the engaging member 110 is elastically pushed by the latch assembly120 a, such that the auxiliary door 50 is opened.

Thus, the front surface of auxiliary door 50 is pressed to be closed,and re-pressed to be opened.

Referring to FIG. 5, a process for opening the auxiliary door of therefrigerator according to the present invention will be described.

The auxiliary door 50 is opened through a first opening section (x)rotating the locking unit 100 by pushing force, a second opening section(y) rotating the auxiliary door 50 by its self weight, and a thirdopening section (z) dampening rotation speed by the damper unit 80.

More specifically, once a user presses the front surface of auxiliarydoor 50 in a state of the auxiliary door being closed, the engagingmember 110 and the latch assembly 120 a are disengaged. The engagingmember 110 is pushed by the latch assembly 120 a.

Hence, the auxiliary door 50 is rotated enough to be opened at apredetermined angle (α).

After that, the auxiliary door 50 is opened by its self weight enough tobe opened at a predetermined angle (β).

Next, when the opening angle of auxiliary door 50 is β, the damping unit80 is operated to dampen the opening speed of auxiliary door 50. Hence,the auxiliary door 50 is rotated at a low speed to be opened at apredetermined angle (γ).

Thus, the shock created by the main door 20 when the auxiliary door 50is opened may be minimized.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, an inner structure of the latch assembly120 a according to the embodiment will be described in detail.

As shown in FIGS, 6A and 6B, the latch assembly 120 a includes arotatable coupling body 121 a coupled to the engaging member 110 forlocking the auxiliary door 50.

The rotatable coupling body 121 a is restitutive to its originalposition and elastically pushes the engaging member 110 when the frontsurface is pressed to open the auxiliary door 50.

For that, the rotatable coupling body 121 a is rotatably provided in aframe part of the latch assembly 120 a, and includes a restitutiondevice (not shown) for restituting the rotatable coupling body 121 a toits original position.

The restitution device also includes a torsion spring (not shown)connected with the rotatable coupling body 121 a.

The original position of rotatable coupling body 121 a is a position ina state where the auxiliary door 50 is opened, that is, a position in astate where the rotatable coupling body is not coupled to the engagingmember 110.

Hence, when the engaging member 110 is inserted through the insertrecess 121 of locker with the auxiliary door 50 being closed, therotatable coupling body 121 a is rotated and coupled to the engagingmember 110.

More specifically, as the rotatable coupling body 121 a being rotated,some part of the rotatable coupling body 121 a is inserted into theengaging hole 111 of engaging member 110.

Since the rotatable coupling body 121 a is secured in a state of beingcoupled to the engaging member 110, the auxiliary door 50 is locked.

According to the embodiment, the rotatable coupling body 121 a includesa coupling recess 122 a recessed in a radial direction.

As shown in FIGS, 7A and 7B, the engaging member 110 is inserted intothe coupling recess 122 a of rotatable coupling body 121 a and pushes afirst side of the coupling recess 122 a to rotate the rotatable couplingbody 121 a, with the auxiliary door 50 being closed.

Hence, a second side of the coupling recess 122 a is rotated andinserted into the engaging hole 111 of engaging member 110, such thatthe engaging member 110 and the rotatable coupling body 121 a arecoupled each other. That is, a second side of the coupling recess 122 ais employed for performing a function of an engaging hook.

By the way, the rotatable coupling body 121 a rotated by the engagingmember 110 is selectively secured by a stop member 123 a.

For that, a stepped part 124 a is formed in the rotatable coupling body121 a for allowing the stop member 123 a engaged thereto.

Also, the stop member 123 a is provided in the frame part 121 b to beengaged to the stepped part 124 a once the rotatable coupling body 121 ais rotated at a predetermined angle, such that the rotatable couplingbody 121 a is secured.

As the rotatable coupling body 121 a is rotated, a first guide surface124 b is provided in the rotatable coupling body 121 a for guiding thestop member 123 a to the stepped part 124 a.

Also, if a relative position of the stop member 123 a for the frame part121 b is a original position, the stop member 123 a is supported by anelastic member 125 a such as a spring for being restitutive to theoriginal position.

Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, once a user presses the front surface ofauxiliary door 50 to open the auxiliary door 50, the engaging member 110pushes the rotatable coupling body 121 a to be rotated further.

Hence, the stop member 123 a is restitutive along a non-stepped surfaceafter being detached from the stepped part 124 a.

More, specifically, as the rotatable coupling body 121 a is rotatedfurther, the stop member 123 a detached from the stepped part 124 areaches the non-stepped surface after sliding along a second guidesurface 124 c formed on the rotatable coupling body 121 a.

Thus, the stop member 123 a and the rotatable coupling body 121 a aredetached each other. Hence, once force applied to the front surface ofauxiliary door 50 is removed, the rotatable coupling body 121 a isrestituted to the original position by the torsion spring and pushes theengaging member 110.

Accordingly, the auxiliary door 50 is opened by the elasticity ofrotatable coupling body 121 a.

An arrow of FIG. 9 indicates the relative movement of stop member 123 afor the rotatable coupling body 121 a.

The refrigerator according to the present invention has followingadvantageous effects.

First, the refrigerator according to the present invention has an effectof maximized convenience for usage, because the user can open/close theauxiliary door more conveniently.

Second, the refrigerator according to the present invention has anothereffect that the user can store and take out the food through theauxiliary door conveniently, because the user even when using both handscan open the auxiliary door.

Finally, the refrigerator according to the present invention has stillanother effect that the shock applied to the main door and/or theauxiliary door in opening the auxiliary door may be minimized, becausethe damping unit dampens the opening speed of auxiliary door.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus, itis intended that the present invention covers the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

1. A refrigerator comprising: a main door with an opening, the main dooropening/closing a storage chamber of a refrigerator body; an auxiliarydoor rotatably coupled to the main door for opening/closing the opening,the auxiliary door opened/closed by pushing an outer surface thereof;and a locking unit for selectively locking the auxiliary door toopen/close the auxiliary door by pushing, the locking unit for applyingrotation force to the auxiliary door to open the auxiliary door.
 2. Therefrigerator of claim 1, wherein the locking unit comprises: an engagingmember provided in either of the auxiliary door and the main door; and alocker provided in the other of the auxiliary door and the main door forbeing selectively engaged to the engaging member, the locker forapplying elasticity to the auxiliary door to open the auxiliary doorwhen external force is applied to the auxiliary door.
 3. Therefrigerator of claim 2, wherein the engaging member is provided in theauxiliary door and the locker is provided in the main door, the lockercomprising a latch assembly selectively engaged to the engaging member.4. The refrigerator of claim 3, wherein the engaging member comprises:an engaging recess or an engaging hole selectively engaged to the latchassembly.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 3, wherein the latch assemblycomprises: a rotatable coupling body coupled to the engaging member forlocking the auxiliary door, the rotatable coupling body restituted to anoriginal position and elastically pushing the engaging member.
 6. Therefrigerator of claim 2, wherein the engaging member is provided in anupper portion of an inner wall of the auxiliary door and the locker isprovided in an upper edge portion of the opening and a rotation shaft isprovided in a lower portion of the auxiliary door, such that theauxiliary door is rotated with respect to the rotation shaft.
 7. Therefrigerator of claim 1, further comprising a damping unit for dampeningthe rotation speed of the auxiliary door when the auxiliary door isopened.
 8. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein the damping unit isprovided in any one of the main door and the rotation shaft of theauxiliary door.
 9. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein the auxiliarydoor is opened through a first opening section in which the auxiliarydoor is rotated by the pushing force of the locking unit, a secondopening section in which the auxiliary door is rotated by self weight,and a third opening section in which the damping unit dampens therotation speed of the auxiliary door.
 10. The refrigerator of claim 1,wherein the main door comprises an auxiliary frame for defining a rim ofthe opening and for allowing the auxiliary door coupled thereto.
 11. Therefrigerator of claim 1, wherein the opening of the main doorcommunicates an inside of the storage chamber with an outside.